


Disaster

by theauthor2010



Series: The Rebuilding Series [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Adoption, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-26
Updated: 2011-02-26
Packaged: 2017-10-15 23:11:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 16,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/165841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theauthor2010/pseuds/theauthor2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to The System. Kurt and Puck are still together after over a year’s trials and tribulations. In fact, they’ve even moved in together and are awaiting college in the fall. Everything seems perfect until one phone call changes the perfect world they’ve planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A new life doesn't always begin as expected.

  
The phone rang, causing Kurt to squeal just a little in surprise and excitement. He and Puck had only been living in their apartment for a few days, so even the simple sound of their phone ringing was new and exciting, symbolic of their new life together.

Shelby's number came up on the display. That wasn't surprising, considering that Puck and Shelby kept in contact often now. It wasn't something Puck shared with most people, but by now Kurt knew the relationship that Puck had with his daughter's adoptive mother well.

 

He would never forget the first time he had seen Puck receive a letter from Shelby, when they were still in high school. He had opened it, revealing the picture inside, and his face lit up, despite the tears in his eyes. He had shown Kurt the image of his daughter with a look of absolute pride on his face. "Isn't she beautiful?" he asked softly, delicately.

"She is," Kurt had told him. "She’s all you. Do you...do you miss her?"

Puck nodded. “Every day of my life."

So, anyway, Shelby calling Puck was pretty common and did not strike Kurt as strange at all. Quinn had wanted nothing to do with the daughter she left behind, but Puck did and they had sort of grown a bond over the love they shared for Beth. There had been a period, around the time that Puck was still recovering from the rape, not to mention the fact that his being in juvie had strained the relationship, when the pair didn't talk much. However, starting early their senior year, the relationship had been renewed and Puck was always trying to be as involved as he could in his daughter’s life.

"Hey Miss Corcoran," Kurt said, picking it up. "Noah's not here right now, but I can take a message or whatever you'd..."

He was cut off by an unfamiliar voice. "Hello," an older woman said softly. Her voice was mingled with tears, and she was trying to speak while supressing slow sobs. "This is Shelby's mother. Please have Noah Puckerman call me back as soon as possible. My m-my daughter's been killed."

Dizziness hit him in an instant and Kurt felt like his head was swimming.

 

“Killed?” he choked out softly. “How? Is...Beth okay?”

“There was a car accident,” she said, her voice broken with tears. “Beth is fine, she was with her sitter at the time of the accident. Shelby, s-she was one her way to get Beth when it h-happened. Please get him as soon as possible. I’m at my daughter’s house with Beth.”

She hung up the phone and Kurt stared, dumbfounded. He could not believe this. He was so confused and absolutely heartbroken. Beth’s mother was dead. Puck was going to be devastated. They had only moved into their apartment a few days ago, both were going to nearby colleges in the fall. This was supposed to be the start of their lives together. This was supposed to be the beginning of something. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

Kurt closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to get rid of the absolutely selfish thoughts. Puck’s daughter had lost her mother. He had to go tell him. He calmly, too calmly, walked outside, locked the door and went to his car. He got inside and drove to Puck’s workplace, without a second thought.

He and Kurt both took on a job at the beginning of senior year, plans for their shared apartment already brewing. Puck worked for a grocery store and then had transferred to their Columbus location on their move. They were both planning on college in Columbus, Kurt having been accepted to the state college, and Puck attending a local junior college not far off. They were ready for this. Now Kurt wasn’t sure they were ready for anything. What could they be ready for now? Oh god, Beth's mother was dead.

He pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. He rushed inside. It was Tuesday afternoon so the grocery store wasn’t very crowded. He found Puck stocking a shelf at the front of the store. “Hey,” he said softly, knowing that this was horrible news to have to break to someone he loved and not knowing how to break it.

  
Puck turned around. “Baby, what are you doing here?” he asked.

Kurt swallowed. His throat hurt just trying to get the words out. “It’s bad,” he whispered softly, tears springing to his eyes. He didn’t know Shelby, he had no right to grieve her, but still this was going to tear Puck into pieces. “Shelby…she’s dead.”

Horror filled his eyes, a broken, deadened look that Kurt hadn’t seen in almost two years. It choked him up, the way that his boyfriend had to hide his pain.  “What?” he practically screamed, dragging the attention of everyone in the store to them. “The fuck…how? No, she can’t be dead. Beth, where’s Beth?”

Kurt calmly took Puck by the shoulders and steered him outside. “Her mother called our apartment,” he said. “She was killed in a car accident. Beth was with her sitter at the time, so she’s fine.”

Puck sat down on the curb, closing his eyes. “I just talked to her a few days ago,” he said, quietly. “I literally just talked to her. How can she be gone? Beth, what’s Beth going to do?” he asked, slightly panicked. “She’s two Kurt. She needs her mom. She’s alone. What is she going to do?”

Kurt sat down next to him, not even minding the filth they were sitting in, as he leaned down and hugged Puck close with one arm. “We need to go see her mother,” he said softly. “We need to go see Beth, see what we can do.”

Puck breathed deep. “Take me?”

Kurt nodded. “Your job…” he said low.

“Fuck that,” he said softly. “Come on Kurt, let’s go please.” He was shaking from the effort of what he was saying, how calm he was staying. Kurt could feel the tension in his body, shaking through him. He wanted to hit someone, to scream, but instead was staying very calm. “Her place isn’t that far from here.”

Kurt knew that, though he had never been. Puck had been delighted they were going to Columbus because of how close it was to Shelby’s home, and how it meant that he could have visitation every couple of months, see the beautiful girl that was his daughter. Kurt got in the car, Puck practically crawling into the passenger’s seat. He drove them to Shelby’s home, knowing exactly where it was, though he had never been, just because the place meant so much to the boy he loved.


	2. Plans have to be made, quickly.

The house was beautiful. Kurt had only seen Shelby years ago, when she was still Vocal Adrenaline’s coach. He had been meaning to come with Puck to a visitation, but had always felt a little bit awkward about imposing on that. Kurt was Puck’s boyfriend of almost two years and he adored him, he loved him, but the idea of meeting his daughter was a little bit on the terrifying side. The house was exactly what he expected though, from the few times he had talked to Shelby on the phone, or watched video of her with Beth. It was extravagant without being over the top, subdued, beautiful. There was a sense of dark, ominous fear within the house though. There were way too many cars in the driveway. It was the scene of a tragedy.

Puck got out of the car before he did. He watched as his boyfriend rushed towards the car and followed himself, slowly.

Puck swallowed before he knocked on the door. Kurt stood at his side, holding his wrist.

The woman who answered looked very much like her daughter, but with silver hair and a rounded face. Her face was white and blotched with red. "Hello," Puck said swallowing. "I'm Noah Puckerman. I..."

She nodded slowly. "Come in, come in," she said softly, her voice strained. "The accident was yesterday, we're still working out details, but I had to call you immediately. I...I really am at a loss right now. My daughter and I were never very close emotionally, especially as she grew older, but this is the worst thing that has ever happened. I just can't calm down long enough to speak, really, but I needed to see you. Shelby would have wanted me to see you first. You are the biological father of her child and she spoke very fondly of you.”

"Please, just breathe," Kurt comforted the woman, and she sat down on the arm of an old armchair.

“Shelby specified that upon her death, Beth's custody be returned to you. You are her biological father. I assume that Shelby was thinking much later in life, when you were no longer a teenager, but she created a full will several years ago and that was explicitly added about seven months ago. Shelby wanted you to take custody of Beth. I…I know that my family will not entirely agree with this wish but I am her mother and I do understand very much why she felt this way. She wrote me often about your interactions.”

Puck sat down, staggering to the sofa.

Kurt sat down with him, thankful he did, because the moment they reached the sofa, Puck started hyperventilating, speaking to Kurt in whispers. “Kurt,” he said softly, his voice barely a whisper. “I don’t…I don’t know how to be a dad. I…I…we haven’t even had sex yet because I’m too fucking afraid of that still. We’re going to college. I…I’ve seen Beth maybe once every couple of months for the last year. She knows me as that weird dude who comes over now and again and her mom is dead…”

“Baby, we’re going to figure this out.”

He looked infuriated when he turned back to Kurt. “Kurt!” he yelled. “I…she was a fantastic woman. She had no clue what the hell she was doing when we handed Beth over to her, but she caught on so fast. You shoulda seen that baby girl’s eyes the last time I visited. She clung to Shelby, leaned in her shoulder and said mama with all the devotion in the world. I can’t take the place of that.”

“More reason she needs you,” Kurt said, holding on lightly.

Puck moved out of his grip. “I don’t know what to do,” he said.

“You’re so strong,” Kurt said. “You can do this. You and I, remember? We figured out a long time ago that no matter what hit us, we’d be okay.”

“It’s your choice of course, whether you’d pursue custody,” Shelby’s mother said softly. “You are so very young. I know that my younger sister was always very fond of Beth. I just…I’ve just lost my daughter and I don’t want to see Shelby’s little girl in state custody. I will be willing to back you up completely in this, if you do make that choice.”

Puck nodded slowly. “I can’t let my girl end up in some foster home,” he told Kurt quietly.

Kurt nodded. “I know you can’t.”

“Where is she now?” Puck asked.

“She’s with my sister at the moment,” the woman said quietly. “Catherine does not know that I’ve called you yet but she and are I going to have a discussion very shortly. Can you please meet me at Catherine’s house tomorrow at 7?”

Kurt rubbed Puck’s shoulder, almost afraid to touch, and he nodded slowly. “Yeah.”


	3. Some steps need to be taken.

uck didn’t really talk to Kurt again until he sunk down on their bed, closing his eyes. “I’m so freaked out Kurt,” he mumbled low. It seemed like he was stating the obvious but Kurt knew that sometimes his boyfriend had to say how he was feeling aloud, in order to face it head on. It was a coping mechanism he had noticed in the past. “I mean, God, how can I handle this? Can I be her dad? Will they even let me? I’m a fuck up. I was in juvie, I’ve…god, like I said, I can’t even handle having sex with my boyfriend, who I fucking adore. This is ridiculous.”

He rambled, laying flat on his back, eyes shut. Kurt crawled up onto the bed, and leaned into his side, cuddling up against him. “You’re anything but a fuck up,” he said seriously. “You’re strong and confident and you have endured so much.”

“So you tell me,” Puck mumbled, opening his eyes and putting his arm around Kurt’s smaller body, “and I get that, we have been through a lot and made it. But this, this isn’t just you and me.”

“No, it isn’t,” Kurt said honestly. “This involves your daughter.”

He was really scared for their future, as scared as Puck was, if not more, but he knew that his boyfriend needed the security of someone who loved him, someone who would be there for him and comfort him through his insecurities, not add more fear.

“I haven’t even really thought about Shelby yet,” Puck admitted to Kurt quietly. “She was really a kickass woman. I hated her, so much, when we first gave her Beth, because Quinn was so convinced she was the answer and I didn’t even know her. All I knew about her was that she had given Rachel up, just like we were giving up our baby. Quinn told me that maybe she deserved a second chance to have a daughter, which was so true, but I didn’t believe her. I was bitter and angry.”

“You had every right to be bitter and angry,” Kurt said quietly. “I mean, you were giving up a piece of you and she was the one supporting her.”

He nodded, slowly. “I just…she was awesome,” Puck said finally. “After I sorted out the juvie mess and we got back into contact, we talked on the phone a lot. She told me about all of Beth’s big moments – her first word, which was mama, her first steps, the way that she likes to sleep on her stomach with her knees pushed up under her, the way that she can’t sleep without her stuffed duck…Just, all these little things.

“That was sweet of her to share that with you…” Kurt mumbled. His words were useless, filler, but Puck had to get this out.

“The first time I had a visitation was so awesome,” he said. “She didn’t know me, of course, but she was crawling at that time, and crawled right into my arms.” Kurt watched the most beautiful smile wash over his face. “It was like, even though I wasn’t her daddy anymore, there was something in her that knew she was safe with me. I only held her for a minute before we gave her away, but god…it was perfect to hold her again.”

All Kurt could really do was rub his arm comfortingly.

“Shelby was a good mom,” Puck continued softly. “I just know it. There was something about the way Beth always looked at her, like she was the only thing in the world. She reminded me of my mom, Shelby, that is. My mom would have been just like Shelby was to Beth, if she had all of the resources that they had. A good mom just loves their kid so much. How can I ever live up to that?”

Kurt swallowed. “You will,” he swore, quietly. “What’s Beth like?” He had never met the child and he figured that it was a good question to ask.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve last seen her,” Puck answered, but his eyes lit up anyway, as he started to describe her. “She’s beautiful. She really looks like me, you know? She doesn’t look like Quinn that much, except for her eyes. She has Quinn’s beautiful eyes. She’s really shy, which is kind of funny. I guess that part of my DNA went missing. She’s loud though…has a set of lungs on her.”

He turned and leaned into Kurt’s shoulder. “I love her so much.”

“I know you do,” Kurt said, rubbing his back. He was getting kind of nervous.

Puck looked into Kurt’s eyes and the words that came out were shocking. “Kurt, can we…you know, like…do it?”

Kurt gasped a little bit. “Do it?” he asked, in shock. “What the heck?”

He frowned a little bit. “Well can you blame me?” he said softly. “I mean, we’ve been trying to get to that point forever. We’re about to enter something terrifying, and I want to get to that point now.”

It had been completely difficult for them; the process of intimacy for the couple had gone slowly, painfully slowly. They had tried to go all the way a few times, but couldn’t, not even with Kurt bottoming. “I can’t do that to you,” he had said softly, before pulling away the last time. It didn’t seem like they’d ever really get to that point. It was one of the few lingering reminders of how traumatic his boyfriend’s rape had been to him.

“It means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

“Of course it does,” Puck said, laughing. “I mean, dude, Kurt, you’ve wanted to…for a long time now. I’m no virgin. This is stupid. I want to give you the most epic first time and I never could, and now our lives are about to change forever and something so insignificant shouldn’t be holding me under.”

Kurt leaned down and pressed a kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. “You shouldn’t feel pressured into that, just because everything’s changing.”  
“C’mon Kurt,” he mumbled. “You said once that you had trouble denying me. I just need this right now. This is…really serious, where we’re heading and I can’t be screwed up anymore. I need to do what I’ve been dying to do for months and months and months!”

He kissed his nose. “For someone who spends so much time trying to be a badass, you’re so adorable,” he mumbled low. “I just want to see you happy and strong and knowing that you’ll make it through.”

“Then let’s be together, please.”

Kurt relented and kissed him again.


	4. Chapter 4

By seven o’clock the next day, Kurt was glad that he and Puck had finally made love. It was good for his boyfriend’s confidence, and Puck held his head high when they arrived at the home of Shelby’s aunt. Kurt could tell that he was absolutely shining. “It’s going to be okay,” Kurt said softly, while they waited for someone to answer the door.

Shelby’s mother answered the door but she was not alone. She was with a woman about her age (probably in her mid sixties?) who had grey hair and dark eyes. The woman who was with her, Catherine, they assumed, did not look so pleased to see them. “It’s nice to meet you, Catherine is it?” Kurt said softly, trying to be polite. “This is Noah and I’m his boyfriend Kurt. I’m hoping you don’t mind me coming.”

“No not at all,” she said. “Come in.”

They entered the house. It was a simple family home with a casual decor. As soon as they entered, little footsteps filled both of their ears. It may have not been the loudest sound, the sound of a child running out of the front room of the house and into the hall, but it was definitely the most important.

Kurt swallowed. He had seen Beth’s pictures before and knew what she looked like, but still her presence there, as a real child, just shook him. She looked at the intruders with her big brown eyes and pulled back some. “Hi Beth,” Puck said softly, going down to his knees. “Remember me? Gosh, you look so much bigger than I remember last.”

Kurt watched with his arms crossed, a little bit overwhelmed and surprised. Beth was beautiful and Puck just fell into his role as a father. It was insane to think that this tough guy, the guy who stole stuff for years, threw him into dumpsters, and even after his redemption beat the crap out of anyone who looked at Kurt wrong, could still be the perfect father.

The little girl smiled. “Hi,” she said shyly.

He pulled her into a hug. Kurt swallowed again. He was not emotional and he was not going to tear up over this.

“Beth, sweetie, let’s get you washed up and then auntie will get you some dinner,” Catherine said, picking up the baby the moment Puck let her go. She took her into the bathroom.

Shelby’s mother looked at them apologetically. “I am so sorry,” she said. “She’s a little bit on the defensive side but trust me, she adores Beth and wants what’s best for her. She was a better…great aunt than I was a grandmother unfortunately.”

Puck swallowed. “I want to be her father,” he mumbled. “I do.”

“I know love,” the woman said quietly. “She knows she’s not what’s best for Beth, as much as she adores her. She’d be far too old too fast to raise her correctly. A child with Beth’s stamina especially, cannot be raised by an old woman.”

Kurt watched quietly as Catherine returned, with a newly washed up two year old in her arms.

The woman looked at them with cool, appraising eyes. "It's true, what you say," she told Shelby's mother, darkly. "My sister is very quick to point out to me that I'll be pushing eighty when the child starts High School, and I'm probably not the best person to seek custody of Beth. Still, you must forgive me if I don't exactly trust you. Shelby was closer to me than she was to her own mother at times."

Kurt winced. That seemed pretty cold to say with the other woman standing right there, but Shelby's mother did not flinch at the statement. His boyfriend beside him gaped a little, searching for words. "I'm her father," he said softly. It seemed like the only thing he really could say. "I know I'm young and...I’m kind of stupid, but I love her. I have always loved her; from the moment she was born."

"Is love enough?" Catherine asked, sitting down suddenly. "How old are you?"

"I'm eighteen," he said softly, looking at Kurt for help.

"Eighteen and the type of young man who has a child at sixteen," she said delicately. "You gave your daughter up for adoption for a reason."

Puck swallowed and held Kurt's hand tightly to steady himself. "I regretted it every moment," he mumbled quietly. "If I had more say in the matter, more power, I wouldn't have given her up. I..."

"What do you do for a living?" she questioned just as coolly.

"I work at a grocery store!" he yelled choked. "And my boyfriend works at a frilly little store thing! Look, I get it okay? I get that we don't have the best means. We were both supposed to start school in August. We're kind of scrambling but - ugh!" He groaned and leaned back.

Kurt spoke up quietly. "If anyone's going to raise her right, love her, it's him."

"I'm not sure how I feel about your lifestyle either," she snapped, a brutal statement given without much thought.

Kurt swallowed. Gay comments still pretty much were a knife to the heart. “If you think that changes anything about how good a father my boyfriend is, you’re mistaken. Can I…can I take Beth and get her dinner perhaps? She’s only a baby but she shouldn’t have to hear this.”

“That’s a fantastic idea,” Puck said, swallowing heavily. Kurt knew he was swallowing back what he truly wanted to say. “Is that okay?” he asked both women respectfully. “Kurt is fantastic with kids and stuff.”

“Her dinner’s already made up,” the angrier of the two women said hesitantly. “You can go put it on a plate and get her in her high chair.”

Kurt tried to gather up his courage, and when he felt courageous enough he swooped Beth into his arms. “Hi sweetie,” he said, and she giggled instantly, so he felt like a success. “I’m Kurt.”

“I Beth,” she said seriously, with a lot of intensity for a two-year-old. Oh man, she reminded him of Puck so much, that cute way she pouted.

Kurt put her in her high chair and went to get the food that was already made. He spooned the carrots onto the plate, thinking. “Hungry baby girl?” he asked.

The girl nodded. “Hungry!”

Oh god, she was the cutest thing ever. He was quickly falling in love. He shook his head and brought her dinner over. She took the tiny little toddler spoon and took a big messy bite. “Oh god, you are your father’s child Beth.”

He glanced toward the front room, hoping it would be okay.


	5. Two years has gone by so fast.

The agreement was a tentative one. Puck could fight for custody of Beth and would have the support of her adoptive family if he proved himself a fit father and spent time with the girl, thinking about his life choices. Puck had told them that there was no choice involved, but they had still insisted. He would have fought anyway, of course, but the support was always a good thing. He and Kurt were going to need all of the support in the world.

So, while arrangements involving the death were still being made, Puck was babysitting Beth. While her grandmother and great aunt planned the funeral, he sat on the couch holding his sleeping daughter, while Kurt sat with Rachel, whom he had to inform of her biological mother’s death. Luckily, Rachel had yet to leave Ohio, and had driven up to see them as soon as she heard. She, of course, wanted to attend the woman’s funeral and support her friends; however, Rachel did seem rather detached, while sitting on the sofa with Kurt and talking about it.

"It's okay Kurt," Rachel said softly, moving herself a little bit closer to Kurt. They had been friends for a very long time now, too alike to not be. "Shelby was my mother, not my mom. I'm sad but not broken down by it. She was Beth's mom."

Puck tried but couldn't look away as Rachel's gaze fell on him and the little girl sleeping in his arms. "She's so beautiful," Rachel said quietly. "She grew to look very much like you, Noah, I can’t believe it. Two years has gone by so fast.”

"She's perfect," he said, meeting Rachel's eyes. "I'd never call someone dying good, it's horrible and it's hurt her so much; but god, it just feels good to hold her in my arms again."

"It's not shameful really," Rachel assured. "You wanted to be her father and fate has brought her back to you. It's tragic that her mother died but at the same time...I'm talking myself into a hole here. For once, I think I’ll shut up.”

She did shut up and Kurt hugged her, looking up. "Baby, why don't you put Beth down to sleep in the bed," he suggested.

Puck nodded slowly and went to lay the baby girl down. He laid her in their bed, covering her with a soft blanket from her home. "Sleep good princess," he said kissing her forehead. It broke his heart to know all the pain she'd gone through and would go through still. She was only two. She still had no clue her mommy was gone.

“She asks for momma,” Shelby’s mother had confessed. “I have no words for her. I know that Catherine thinks she and I can raise this child, but neither of us have found those words yet.”

He would find those words, somehow.

His cell phone started ringing. Hurrying to make it stop, he answered it, pulling it out of his pocket without stopping to check who it was.

“What the hell is going on?”

Quinn. Oh yeah. He had called her, feeling that she needed to know what he was pursuing, despite her distance from the whole situation. She was this perfect child’s biological mother.

“Quinn,” he said softly, moving into the bathroom that adjoined to the bedroom. “Hey. I…”

“Shelby’s dead?” she asked. “How did that happen?”

He swallowed. “It was a freak accident really,” he said softly. “Her mother and aunt are handling everything, but I thought since you are…Beth’s biological mother, that you should know.” It was the right thing to do, the responsible thing to do.

“Where is Beth going?” she asked. Her voice was surprisingly small for Quinn, who usually sounded demanding and in charge regularly.

“She’s not going anywhere,” he said softly. He looked back into the bedroom. “She’s asleep right here, right now.”

“I mean…” she said, her breath hitching, probably at the idea that their daughter was right where he was then, “where is she going? If her mom is dead, who’s going to raise her?”

“Me,” he said softly. “I’m her father. Kurt agreed to it and we’re going to raise hell to get this. It shouldn’t be hard. Shelby specified in her will that in event of an untimely death; Beth’s custody would go to me.” He swallowed, not sure how she was going to take that.

“WHAT?” she screamed.

Okay, not well. He steadied himself for the rant that he knew was coming.

“You cannot raise a baby,” she said softly. “You’re…you’re unfit…you’re…not right for her! We made this agreement, to give up the baby a long, long time ago. Neither of us were fit to be parents and you know it!”

“I do know it,” he said. “I wasn’t fit to be a parent. I was a jackass; I was a loser teenager who wasn’t going anywhere. I’ve been to the bottom though Quinn. I went to juvie over a stupid stunt last year that I pulled for attention, and you know what? Someone raped me there. Then, I met this boy who changed my life, my outlook on life, and with the stuff he’s taught me, I can be a good dad.”

“You’re freaking insane!”

“A little,” he said with a knowing smile. He returned back to the bedroom. “Quinn, if you wanna talk, you’re gonna have to take a break from your newfound California lifestyle and come see us. The funeral’s in two days, I’m working to get custody and Beth’s fast asleep right in front of me. I really don’t have the time for this.”

“You are crazy.”


	6. Chapter 6

Puck was pretty proud of himself for the way he had handled Quinn. When he came downstairs and found Rachel asleep on the couch and Kurt next to her reading a book, he sat very close to his boyfriend and sighed. “Quinn called,” he admitted quietly. “That went great. She kind of flipped out when I told her what was happening.”

“What right does she have to flip out?” Kurt asked, shaking his head and snapping his book shut. “She gave Beth up; she hasn’t been in her life like you have. Isn’t she living in California now, even?”

“She’s just another voice calling me crazy,” he said, staying close to Kurt. He had always hated the way the voices around him seemed to be ready and willing to call him crazy. Now, people would think he was even more insane. “You’re so amazing you know that?”

“I’m just me,” he said. “But really, don’t you dare worry about Quinn. She’s another stress you do not need.”

“If she cares so much she can come to Ohio, away from her Cali paradise,” he said, rolling his eyes and leaning closer. “Right now I’m worried about Beth. What do I even tell her?" he asked, knowing he looked pathetic, but he was so utterly defeated by the idea of telling a two year old that her mother was dead. How did you tell a child that? She was old enough to understand that her mother wasn't there anymore, even if she wasn't old enough to understand that she was dead. She was such a smart kid. "She's missing her momma, desperately and nobody knows what kind of answer to give a two year old. I need to step up for her. I need to take that responsibility and talk to her. I’m her father and I have to start acting like it.”

Kurt frowned, looking down at his hands. "Well," he said softly. "I was quite a bit older when my mom died, but still too young to really understand death. My dad told me that my mom went to be an angel and watch over everyone in the world." Kurt gave him a tiny, slightly hopeful smile and it did help.

Puck looked to Kurt, frowned, and then nodded. That made sense. It was beautiful, poetic, not the kind of thing he expected from Kurt’s father. He had always assumed Burt Hummel was as much of a devout atheist as his son.

"Every mother is an angel to her child," Kurt said, seeing his face. "It gave me strength and comfort, told me she was in a better place and helped me deal with her being gone forever. It’s all a kid really needs, that comfort deep down. She’s way too young to understand any of the implications of her mom dying. She just needs to know that her mother’s okay, and that she’s okay too…”

Puck sighed and put both arms around Kurt, hugging him tight, leaning in his shoulder. "You're an angel, just like your mother," he said softly, sincerely. "Hell, I don't know how I got so lucky. You've seen me at all my lows and never flinched away. You saved my life."

Kurt rubbed his arm. "Nah you're just that badass," he said. "If you survived all of the horrible things that happened to you, you can survive this and be a fantastic father."

Kurt looked over at Rachel, and Puck swallowed, trying to change the subject. “Do you think Rachel’s really alright?” he asked. “It was nice of you to call her and stuff. I know this is probably hard. Shelby was her mom too.”

“Rachel wanted a lot out of that relationship,” Kurt said, “but I think she kind of grew up and realized that she had an amazing relationship with her dads and stuff. I just wanted to be there for her. She was pretty cool to me, there for me and stuff, when we were going through all of the … stuff we did.”

Puck then realized that Kurt was absolutely exhausted. He only rambled when he was exhausted. “Kurt Hummel, go to sleep,” he said shaking his head. “You’ve been exhausting yourself lately, haven’t you?”

Kurt nodded a little bit. “I have,” he mumbled. “I’ll sleep out here okay? That way I can keep an eye on Rachel.”

He knew that it was an excuse so that he could be alone in the bedroom with his daughter, but that was okay. The time for them to really be a family would come sooner, rather than later. “Okay,” he said softly, kissing Kurt quickly. “Sleep good okay? “

He nodded, assuring himself that it would all be alright, and went to the bedroom to check on his daughter.

Beth was fast asleep, a tiny little thing in the middle of their shared bed. She was clutching the blanket around her, holding onto it furiously. She had a face that reminded him of Kurt, when he was asleep. Her lips were pursed and she was holding very tightly, in the same way that Kurt gripped his arm at night.

He kissed her forehead. “My god I love you little girl.”


	7. He loves his daughter and I love him.

Court proceedings scared him senseless. He did what he had to do, obviously, but as he stood there in that courtroom, pleading his case, he couldn’t help think of standing in a similar court room, staring down the man who had brutally raped him. It was not a good feeling and it made him physically sick to his stomach. He walked home, just hoping that he could spend some time with Kurt. The results of the court rulings were inconclusive right now, Beth was staying with her grandma, and god, he was craving some alone time.

Of course, he knew alone time wasn’t going to come easy now. When he walked into the apartment, Kurt was sitting, looking uncomfortable. The woman in the room with him wasn’t Rachel, but Quinn.

Damn it, had she really come back to Ohio from her fantastic California adventure? He swallowed.

It took approximately .5 seconds for Quinn to launch herself at him. He raised his hands in defense.

“Check the suit,” he said, gesturing to his clothing. “Give me ten seconds to get this tie off?”

Quinn Fabray was never one for obliging a dude’s simple request. She was that kind of girl.

"You can't raise her!" Quinn yelled, looking completely strained. She had tears in her deep brown eyes and seemed to be genuinely distraught. He didn’t get it in the slightest. He was the one suffering through this. He was the one trying to convince the whole world that an idiot eighteen year old could raise a baby. He was the one who was working to correct the wrongs in the world. This wasn’t her fight.

“Quinn,” he said quickly, taking off the tie in question. “What the hell are you doing here?”

She seemed to ignore his words altogether. "There are so many reasons. You're eighteen for one; you work at a grocery store and most importantly, you and I gave her up two years ago. She's not ours anymore."

Puck looked to Kurt for encouragement and held his head high. He was strong enough to raise Beth and he sure as hell was strong enough to face the girl who'd given birth to her. He was not prepared for this fight, but he was starting to learn that there were a lot of things in life he frankly was not prepared for. "Quinn, this isn't ideal but neither was her mother dying. I've stayed in her life, where you haven't. I've seen that little girl and the way she looked at her mother. I've known her mother. I can't let Beth get tossed into the system."

She groaned. "I don't approve of this," she said quickly.

Puck wanted to say, good for you, but instead he said, "Would you take her in?"

She paused, her voice gone for a moment. "I-I ...no," she said. "I gave her up. I'm living in California, going to one of the most expensive schools there. I'm not equipped to be a parent and neither are you."

"Back off, Quinn," Kurt said suddenly, hand on Puck's shoulder. "If you're not pursuing custody, then you have no reason to bash down on him for trying his best. I don’t even know why you’re here.”

She looked shocked, eyes big, trying to plead to Kurt instead. "I'm surprised at you Kurt," she said. "How can you encourage this insanity? Mercedes told me how good you guys did for yourselves. You got jobs, an apartment, and acceptance into a good school. Don't think for a second that his is the only life going downhill because of this."

Kurt swallowed harshly, probably to still his usual biting wit and the comeback that wanted to spit out. "I accept that," he said. "He loves his daughter and I love him. I want...I want this..."

He couldn’t help look at Kurt, while his boyfriend was speaking. Was that true? Did Kurt want this? He swallowed and tried not to think about that. He was messing with Kurt’s life too. Kurt was accepted into a real university, and got a lot of nice financial aid. He was going to be a genius, probably some kind of brilliant fashion designer once he got into the right program. Would being a part of his boyfriend’s mess ruin that?

He sighed a little bit. “Quinn. Go home okay?” he said softly. “Your mom will be happy to see you before school starts. Rachel’s still in Ohio and kind of sad over her mom dying. Maybe you can support her. I have a funeral to attend tomorrow, I just got home from court, and can you please just go?”

It was funny. He had once loved this girl and now he wanted her out, as fast as possible.

He went to the bedroom. He didn’t really want to leave Kurt alone to this but he felt like he was suddenly swallowing a lot of guilt. This was horrible.


	8. I don't think you're crazy.

The moment he entered their bedroom, Puck took off his tie and threw it at the mirror. He pulled off his jacket next, followed by his shirt. He didn’t stop until he was completely stripped down to his underwear, trying to erase the uncomfortable feeling of the courtroom scenario. The moment he was stripped down he sat on the bed. He was so mad at Quinn, too. How dare she come back into his life, just to yell at him for the choices he was making? He had loved her at one point and dreamed of getting better, of giving Beth more. Now, it was his dream but it wasn’t hers.

Yet, there was still a question that burning in his mind. It was his dream, to raise Beth, to be a good father in wake of this tragedy, but was it Kurt’s dream too?

Quinn’s words had been hurtful and probably based in her own regret, but they had some truth in them. Kurt did deserve more than playing house at eighteen. He was kind of brilliant, had been accepted to one of his choice universities, and Puck felt twinges of extreme guilt. Would this mess up Kurt’s life and most of all did Kurt really want this? Those were two very overwhelming questions. He knew what he was fighting for but was Kurt fighting at his side because he had to?

“Hey, I’m sorry about Quinn.”

He turned around to be face to face with Kurt. He was looking at him in total, exhausted disbelief. “She talked my ear off for another ten minutes, but I got her to leave,” Kurt explained, sitting on the bed. “She had no right to do all of that. I think that she’s still dealing with some repressed regret from back when you gave Beth up, or at least that’s my theory for the moment.”

“Makes sense,” he mumbled, because that was what he was thinking too, but he wasn’t in the mood to discuss Quinn’s mental turmoil at all.

Kurt scooted up to sit right next to him. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Not really,” he answered. Being honest was hard, but he found it almost impossible to be anything but honest with Kurt. “I…the court thing was really hard. It reminded me of things that I would rather not remember.”

“Oh, shit, I didn’t think of that.”

He turned to see Kurt looking absolutely horrified. “Eh,” he said shaking his head. “Nothing really resulted from it, but at least we’re making progress in the right direction. I just, I’m really tired of the whole world thinking I’m crazy.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy,” Kurt comforted, looking anxious.

“You don’t?” he asked. “You know, I never really asked you what you thought about this. This is going to mess up your life too, not just mine. It’s going to change all of those plans we had all perfectly planned out and stuff.”

“Plans change,” Kurt said shaking his head quickly. “I’m not sure what this means for us yet, but of course I want it to happen. I don’t want your daughter going off to some foster family, or honestly, ending up with her slightly homophobic and extremely condescending great-aunt. She’s also a really amazing kid and…I didn’t want kids yet, but always did some day you know?”

“Your college plans may be really off balance,” he warned. “I know you got that scholarship money and I don’t want you to lose it.”

It was his own code way of saying that Kurt could leave. He wouldn’t hold it against him if he wanted to leave the insanity that was his boyfriend’s life. “Your dad didn’t want you to move in with me,” he mumbled low. “I’m sure he’d help you pay for dorms and stuff.”

“The dorm list is full,” Kurt said, forcing a playful smile. He shook his head. “This is the apartment I’ve dreamed of. My scholarship stands as long as I take at least half-time units, which is good. I’ll make this work, I promise. We’ll make this work.”

“Why?” he asked, swallowing.

“Because I love you and you love Beth. I want to love her like you do, and we’ll...well, we’ll be okay.”

He watched as Kurt changed, taking off his clothes and folding them neatly. He grabbed his pajama pants from the dresser drawer and pulled them on. “Let’s go to bed, okay?” Kurt mumbled. “I’m tired of everyone and everything and tomorrow is going to be a really, really long day.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” he mumbled, thinking ‘oh my god, I am so in love, so, so very in love that it’s probably a form of insanity.’

He was okay with it. He had a whole world who thought he was insane and really, being crazy in love was the best part of that insanity.


	9. Mommy's with the stars.

The funeral was beautiful, if a funeral could really be beautiful. Shelby’s mother had arranged everything perfectly, spotlessly. “It reminds me of her,” Rachel said softly, sitting on Kurt’s opposite side, “everything about this arrangement, really.” Rachel looked depressed and a little bit confused. Puck didn’t blame her. Everything about the funeral arrangement and the whole sudden tragedy was both depressing and confusing.

Beth was in his arms, half asleep, confused and uncertain of all the commotion around her. She was entertaining herself with one of the toys that Shelby’s mother had pointed out as her favorite, a tiny baby doll with blonde hair. She was a good child, the kind of child who could be quiet with a toy. It wasn’t fair that she was sitting here at her own mother’s funeral. He was trying his best not to cry, because he didn’t cry, but it was hard not to. It wasn’t the death that made him cry, it was the little girl left behind. She didn’t deserve to suffer like this. She didn’t even know that she was suffering, too young to truly understand what she had lost.

“I’m gonna go take Beth over to the park we passed on our way in,” he said softly, the moment that the ceremony ended and dissolved into a reception. He was tired of trying to distract her from all of the sadness all around her. She was his baby and he didn’t want her to have to deal with all of the tragedy. “This is too much for a little kid, and way too much for me.”

Kurt nodded slowly, understanding. “Rachel wants to go talk to Shelby’s mother. I’m going to go with her. Take care baby, both of you.”

The little park was not too far from the funeral home. Beth’s eyes lit up when she saw it.

“Sings!” she said laughing, obviously meaning ‘swings.’ She dropped her doll in her excitement, so he bent down, still holding her firmly in one arm, to pick it up. She giggled as she was swooped backwards in the process, her soft hair falling in her face when he brought her back up. She was the most precious thing ever.

“Yes those are swings,” he said, as he took her over towards them. “Do Miss Beth and her dolly friend want to swing?”

“Yes!”

He took her to the swings and fastened her into the baby swing, carefully. He took her dolly and playfully put her in the swing next to Beth’s. Beth seemed pretty delighted at this. He gave the dolly a faked push, before giving Beth a light one.

She burst into laughter that just melted his heart. He loved the child, so much.

Beth was entertained with the swings for maybe five minutes. Hey, she was a good two year old, but still quite the two year old. “Up please,” she told him, the politest thing he had ever heard coming from a kid. It was definitely not something he would have ever uttered to his mother, especially not at that age. He picked her up and held her. She looked around them.

“Mommy?”

He swallowed. She had used the ‘M’ word a few times over the past days and he had been so lost. He knew that it was time to take the advice that his wonderful boyfriend had given him. He took the little girl over to a grassy hill just near the swings, when she started crying. He frowned. She wasn’t stupid, she was two. She wanted her mommy. He set her down on the hill then took off his jacket and laid it out. Kurt would probably whine about him messing with the nice jacket he’d picked out, but who really cared? He sat his daughter on the jacket.

“Honey, can we talk for a minute?” he asked, knowing that was the dumbest way to enter a conversation with a two year old. He knew honestly that you could not have a conversation with a two year old but that was for his benefit, going through the motions of a conversation. That was for him, while the words were for Beth.

"Your mommy went to be an angel," Puck said softly, holding the tiny girl in his arms just a little closer. "She's up in the sky, watching over everyone, especially her baby." He poked the little girl's nose, to get her attention. Beth looked up at her with a sleepy smile.

"I’m her baby," she mumbled still whining a little bit, but at least there were only tiny glimmers of tears in her eyes.

He nodded, tears in his own eyes that he just couldn't fight. He let them fall, kissing her soft hair as they poured out. "Mommy really loves you and is gonna keep you safe always."

She turned to him and looked into his eyes. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. He melted. "Mommy’s star," she said quietly. Puck figured that was something that Shelby had told her often. It made sense.

"Yep baby girl, mommy's up with the stars and I promise, daddy's gonna love you and take care of you for mommy. He's gonna love you forever and ever. I promised mommy that I'd keep you here with me, while she can't be with you and I always will."

Beth nodded. She leaned up into his ear and whispered something that surprised him. “Where’s Kurt?” she asked, in a very clear tone. “Wants Kurt.”

“I want Kurt too. Let’s go find him,” he said, giving her another tickle.


	10. Can I be in her life?

Things were going well and arrangements were being made. Puck and Kurt were both pleased with the way that things were going. All of the voices telling Puck he was absolutely insane were kind of backing off and Beth was slowly becoming more comfortable with her father and she absolutely adored Kurt. She kind of clung to Kurt’s side every moment she could, looking at him with the same adoration that her father did.

Puck was surprised, however, when he received a voicemail message from Beth’s great aunt Catherine.

“Hi, it’s Catherine. I really just want to talk to you, before things are finalized. I am not calling to stand in your way anymore, trust me, Noah; I just want to talk to you. Anyway, if you’re free, stop by my house any time today. Thanks.”

It was curious, but he knew that he had to talk to her. She was Beth’s family. She and her grandmother were important to Beth and he wanted them both to stay in her life, even once he was legally her father again.

“You should both go,” Kurt said quietly, when he approached Kurt about it. “I don’t really like her but I think she loves Beth, at least, and that’s a big deal, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he mumbled, and walked into the bedroom.

He found his daughter sitting on the floor, her legs crossed, with a couple of toys. “Hey Beth,” he said, kneeling down. “What do you say to us seeing Aunt Cathy today?” He had heard the woman refer to herself as such to Beth, so he hoped it would spark some interest in the little girl.

She looked up and stood up, toddling. “Aunt Cathy,” she said.

He smiled. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s get you cleaned up and changed and we’ll go see Aunt Cathy.” It seemed much easier when Beth seemed fond of the woman.

When he brought the toddler back into the front room, Kurt perked up and got off of the couch. “I get to dress her,” he said brightly. Kurt was absolutely brilliant at that, so Puck handed over his daughter and went to get her clothes. He brought in a blue dress and jacket, as well as her socks and shoes and set them down. Kurt laid the little girl down on the couch. Kurt was kind of a genius at that. The first time he had tried to change Beth’s clothes she had wiggled out of his grip and run down the hall with her pull-up diaper half down to her ankles.

Kurt had a way with the baby girl.

She laid back and let him zip up her dress. “You know, Shelby’s mom said that Shelby was just starting to potty train her,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “We have so much work coming up.”

“It’s stressful,” he mumbled.

“It’s wonderful,” Kurt said honestly. “There ya go Beth. Let’s go do your hair.”

He let them go do Beth’s hair while he got ready to go. He hoped that things ended up well. He really didn’t want to fight. He knew that it wouldn’t cause any good at all.

Within no time at all, Kurt returned with Beth. Her hair had been brushed and parted into two neat pigtails. “You are a godsend Kurt,” Puck said quickly. He leaned over and kissed the other boy. There was just something about the way that Kurt was with Beth. He was a natural. He was absolutely meant to be a daddy. It made everything a lot easier to handle. “What are you going to do while we go pay Catherine a visit?”

Kurt shrugged a little. “I think I’m gonna drive up to my dad’s today.”

“Good plan,” he said. He leaned over and kissed Kurt again. “Please take care okay?”

“Oh will do,” Kurt said honestly. “Need help with the car seat?”

One of the many items that they had brought home in the past week was Beth’s car seat and that thing gave Puck a headache. He had finally managed to figure it out though. “Nope, got it,” he said as he hoisted the lsittle girl onto his shoulders. The girl gripped hold of his shoulders and leaned up close.  
He took her out to his car and strapped her in the seat, perfectly.  
“See?” he told Kurt who followed to make sure.  
Kurt crossed his arms. “Not bad,” he said. “Now I’m gonna go get dressed then go visit my dad and Carole. Call me when you get home.”  
He nodded. “Will do.”  
The car ride was a short one, but one where Beth started squirming and making noise quickly. She was two, cars sucked, he totally got it. “You’re gonna be a vocal little kid, aren’t you?” he asked the tiny little girl, laughing softly, as he glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “I know you are, with Shelby as your mom, my blood in there and now Kurt. You’re doomed to be a loud one. Don’t worry princess, you’ll be singing showtunes before your next birthday.”  
He was nervous about meeting with Catherine, honestly. He stopped the car and let Beth out of her carseat. He set her down and locked the door.  
Catherine was already there, waiting at the door. She looked at Puck, for a second, and then swooped Beth up into a tight hold. “Angel, I missed you,” she said, and Puck glanced at her skeptically, before he noticed the tears in her eyes. “How are you Beth?”

The little girl didn’t answer but gave her a hug. The woman hugged her very tightly and picked her up higher.

“Hi,” she said softly.

Puck looked down and then back at her. “Uh hey,” he mumbled. “I got your message.” That was the dumbest thing ever. Of course he’d received her message, or else he wouldn’t be there.”

“I’m glad you came, and I’m very glad you brought Beth,” she said gently. “I missed her a lot. Let’s go inside.”

They went inside the house and Catherine hesitantly put Beth down. The little girl toddled toward the kitchen and Puck quickly bent down to stop her. “C’mon Beth,” he said. “Let’s go play in the front room while your auntie and I talk.”  
He looked at the woman.

“I’m very sorry,” she said, as she grabbed some of the things Beth had left at her house and laid them out on the floor.

“For what?” Puck asked, making sure that everything was okay and then sitting on the floor with her.

“For the way I treated you,” she said softly, seriously. “For the way I spoke of your relationship and for my unsupportive behavior.” That left him staring for a second. Beth brought a stuffed animal and handed it to him. He took it and the woman continued. “I know that my niece dying wasn’t an ideal situation and that she was a smarter woman than most people around her gave her credit for. I am afraid that my hesitance to trust you was a knee-jerk reaction. Shelby had issues trusting you too, but she grew to do so.”

He nodded. That was fair. Shelby had issues trusting him, that was true, and he deserved it. His stint in juvie and the stupid stunts he pulled were enough to make any concerned parent skeptical.  
“You’ve proven very good at this,” she said quietly, “even if unskilled.”

“I’m eighteen,” he said. “I gotta develop the skills.”

“I hate to admit that some of my words towards you were from personal feelings,” she said quietly. “I have a lot of regret about how I lived my youth, and I adore Beth. She’s like the daughter I never had. I felt the same about her mother. I don’t want to stop you from being the best father you can to Beth, because I’m trying to reclaim my youth. You have my full support but, can I…ask a question?”

Beth whined and hit Puck’s leg with a toy. He pouted and kissed her nose. “Don’t do that. You’ll have daddy’s attention in a minute.” He looked back up at Catherine. “Yeah?”

“Can I be in her life?”

"Of course."


	11. It was a time for hugging.

Kurt had the music loud, singing along during his entire drive back into Lima. He didn’t usually listen to his music so loud, but he had a lot on his mind and singing was sort of his way of venting things out. He wasn’t upset, not at all; he loved Beth, loved her father and was happy that he and Puck could do all they could for the tiny princess who’d just lost her mother. No, he wasn’t upset at all; he was just overwhelmed by everything. This would not be easy and the magnitude of all they had left to do was just enough to make even the strongest person cry. Kurt Hummel, however, did not cry when overwhelmed, he sang.

He had promised his father that he would come visit him and explain everything, but he didn’t want to tell Puck just how serious the visit was. It was going to be pretty hard to explain to his father and probably his stepmother exactly what the plan was. He hoped deep down that maybe Carole could help get the message across to his father. After all, she had been very supportive when she thought that Finn was going to be a teenage father and she had always kind of adored him. They knew the basics, of course, but they deserved to hear it from Kurt himself.

Finally, Kurt couldn’t take it anymore and shut off the blasting Lady Gaga. His ears were kind of ringing and he was nervous. Thankfully, he hit Lima, Ohio, just as his nerves took hold.

He drove up to the house, pulling into the driveway. He knew that his dad would be home, so he just got out of the car and headed up to the door. It felt so strange knocking at his childhood home, but it wasn’t his anymore. He knocked and waited.

Apparently, his father also found his knocking unusual. “Kurt, what are you doing knocking?” he asked, laughing. “Come on in. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I didn’t tell you I was coming,” Kurt said quietly, shrugging. “I feel like I needed to explain in person.”

He entered the house and his father followed. “I was kind of hoping you would,” he said. “I know you went to that woman’s funeral in Columbus and…uh, well to be honest, that little blonde girl you used to be friends with, she said her name was Quinn, she tried to rant at me about how you were ruining your life. I promised her I’d call you and talk you out of the madness – but I’m not quite sure what the madness is. I know you have his birth daughter with you and he’s going to…keep her…or try. But, what I don’t get is - where does that factor you in Kurt?”

Kurt sighed a little. He sat down on the familiar sofa and leaned back.

“I don’t know. Well, I’m sure you know the basics,” he said soft. “Puck’s daughter Beth was adopted out at the end of our sophomore year. Her adoptive mother just died and she willed that Puck should take her back, if anything ever happened to her. Puck is fighting for custody of Beth and it’s looking really good. We’re…going to be parents.” Kurt frowned a little bit, as it did sound a little crazy, saying it like that. “I was going to come explain this to you, but there was so much to settle.”

 

“That is kind of madness,” Burt admitted, low, “and exactly what I got from your email, but…how do you feel about this Kurt?”

Kurt looked confused and honestly, he was confused. How was he supposed to feel? Wasn’t his dad supposed to yell at him about the mistake that he was making and how it would ruin his life? Nobody except Puck had ever asked him how he felt about this, so he was a little surprised, naturally. How did he feel about this? That was one of the best questions in the world, but not one he had an answer to.

“I love Beth,” he said quietly. “I adore her already. I can see myself growing up as her father, being as amazing of a father to her as you are to me. I’m scared, of course. I’m only eighteen. I’m supposed to start college in the fall, and I still am, because I need that scholarship money. We don’t really have the finances to handle this but we’re both going to up our work schedules as much as they’ll allow. I’m afraid that finances are going to kill us and we’ll never see each other again, honestly, but I’m focusing on Beth right now, because that’s what Puck needs to focus on.”

“I don’t really think that you need an answer from me Kurt,” he said. “Or a condemnation, which is what you act like you’re expecting.”

Kurt looked up at his father and started crying. He didn’t know where it came from, but all of a sudden the dam burst and he was just a mess of tears. “I don’t know…I don’t know what I’m expecting; another voice to call us crazy maybe, yeah.”

“You’re not crazy,” Burt said firmly. “In fact, I’d love for you and the boy to bring her for a visit, as soon as you can.”

“How can you be okay with this?” Kurt asked.

“I can be okay, because your mom was pretty young when you were born, you know that right?” Burt smiled thoughtfully. “She was younger than me, and she felt unprepared as anything to have a child. She was younger and I was more immature, so we were about in the same boat as you are. You were as unexpected of an arrival as this kid’s return to your…um, boyfriend’s…life.”

Kurt reached over and hugged his father. His father was one of the few people he trusted enough to really hug. He held him tightly, leaning into his shoulder. “You should see her dad,” he whispered softly. “She’s the most precious child that I’ve ever met in my life. So pretty and precocious and she has this sassy little attitude that is as much Puck’s as it is her adoptive mom’s. She’s…perfect.”

“I’ve known that you and that boy were gonna run off and start a family for about a year now,” Burt said shaking his head. “Why not let it come sooner, I suppose. It’ll be tough, but you’re Hummel tough.”

“Do you really think this is going to ruin me?” Kurt asked, but then he looked at his father funny when his words registered. “And how on earth did you know that?”

His father ruffled his hair. “Once again, me and your mom. You guys are like duplicates of us, in the creepiest way. You made all these plans before your senior year of high school ended. Few kids have that kind of direction. Nah, Kurt, it’s not gonna ruin you. I aint gonna lie and say that having a kid is going to make things easy. It’s gonna be tough, but you’re tough. You can live your dreams and have that kid happier than ever, if you want it enough.”

Kurt sighed heavily. “Here I was expecting you to yell and scream at me,” he said, lying against the arm of the couch.

“You lived under my roof for eighteen years, I’ve had enough yelling,” Burt joked and Kurt was compelled to hug him again.

“I love them both so much dad,” he said softly. “Are Finn and Carole coming home today?”

“Finn is downstairs, actually, and Carole will be home soon. You should go talk to Finn. He’s been worrying sick since that girl ran through Lima like a bat out of hell, trying to get someone to believe you were nuts.”

Kurt nodded. “Okay, I will.”

“You’re staying for dinner too. You’ll be proud, I’m cooking.”

Now that, Kurt had to see. “Alright dad,” he said as he headed downstairs into the basement. Finn was staying in what once was his bedroom, while he attended the local community college. Finn was actually doing really well with his life, planning on heading out of Lima, after he got settled into a career path. He was having trouble making that big decision but he was learning a lot about different professions.

“Hey, why does this place smell like boy?” Kurt joked, as he headed down the stairs and into the room.

Finn looked up, mouth hanging open. “Cause a boy lives here,” he said, as he jumped up off of the bed. “Kurt, hey, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you, but your phone keeps going to voicemail.”

“Sorry,” Kurt said sheepishly, giving Finn a quick hug. “I…uh well, I’ve been absolutely busy.”

“I heard. Beth.” He mumbled the words low, looking at Kurt deeply, as if trying to pry answers from him. “Kurt, what’s going on?”

Kurt was tired of telling this same old story. “Shelby died in an accident. Puck is getting custody of Beth back. That’s the short version.”

Finn sat back down on his bed and gestured for Kurt to do the same. “Isn’t that going to be hard Kurt?” he asked, gently.

Kurt shrugged, but he sat down next to his stepbrother. “I’d imagine,” he said softly. “It’s going to be hard, but I would literally do anything for both of them. I think that’s the best start there is to something like this.” He looked at Finn and hoped he understood. Years ago, when Finn thought that Quinn’s baby was his, he would have done anything for her.

“Yeah, I get it. God dude, you leave for a month and this is what I get?”

“I know, I’m just epic like that,” Kurt said. “Changing my life leaps and bounds in ten seconds.”

Finn hugged him. Kurt let him. It was a time for hugging.


	12. I miss what could have been.

“Yeah, actually my dad did take it pretty well,” Kurt said, lying on the couch, cuddled into his boyfriend’s shoulder. Beth was at Catherine's, neither of them were working, and there was a moment of peace in their apartment. Kurt practically purred as Puck ran his fingers through his hair, but he still kept talking. “Carole and Finn did too. They all said that they would do anything they could to help us out. Finn said that you should call him, by the way.”

“My mom wasn’t so cool about it, but she’s being pretty supportive too,” Puck mumbled, holding Kurt close. “She wasn’t always the biggest fan of my giving up Beth in the first place. She knew that I deserved better than to be some loser teen parent, stuck in Lima, but at the same time I could tell she felt some of my regret too. She can’t help much, financially, cause my family’s…well poor, and she’s still supporting Sarah, but…I have a feeling we’ll have some visitors once everything is finalized.”

“Awesome, I love your sister,” Kurt said yawning. God, he was tired.

“She says she wants to meet Beth as soon as humanly possible,” Puck said, laughing a little bit. “She says she wants to know what a baby with my DNA is like, plus she misses having you to give her the entire scoop.”

“She’s an angel, that sister of yours,” Kurt mumbled, yawning. It was true. She had brought them together and he knew that the girl would be a big help to them, if she could. It was always nice to know that they had family there for them, and it seemed that they both did.

Kurt yawned and turned into Puck’s side. He couldn’t help his exhaustion. He was just so tired. “You need to go to sleep,” Puck pointed out.

“What does it look like I’m trying to do?” Kurt asked.

He shut his eyes tightly, but to his surprise, he was swooped up into his boyfriend’s arms. “Hey!” he shouted, opening up his eyes.

“That’d be much easier to do in the bedroom.”

Kurt didn’t object. He allowed Puck to carry him into their bedroom and set him down on the bed. He looked up at his boyfriend and for the first time in a couple of weeks, he really thought about how much he loved the other boy. Life was so chaotic and it was hard to remember that simple fact. He adored the man that he was with.

The doorbell rang just as Puck was about to crawl into bed with him. "Who the hell is that?" Kurt asked, groaning and covering his face with a pillow. He was so tired and someone had the audacity to come and ring their doorbell. Okay, it was only eight, but seriously?

Kurt covered his face even more, when Puck mumbled, "I'll get that," and left him alone in their bedroom.

Kurt was relatively uninterested in the doorbell ringing until he heard Puck's words, loud and clear even with the pillow over his head.

"Quinn, sweetheart, what's wrong? Talk to me okay?"

Kurt cast the pillow aside and turned his head. He got up and hurried out to the living room.

When he stepped into the hallway, he saw Quinn standing in their door, in tears. Her beautiful, pale face was streaked with tears, red and blotchy. "I want to see my baby," she whispered softly. "Please, please let me see my baby."

Puck took the small girl into his arms and she started hiting him, pounding her fists against his chest. "Please, please," she whimpered. "I just have to know her. I have to know who she is...where she is...my baby..."

Puck seemed to take control, handling it better than Kurt ever would. "Quinn," he said, speaking her name sharply to get her attention. "Beth is at her great-aunt’s house tonight. I need you to calm down and breathe and come sit down, now."

Kurt watched in horror as she sobbed and he led her inside. Puck sat Quinn down on the couch, kissing her cheek and holding her tightly, rubbing her back. "Quinn, I need you to breathe, stop crying," he said softly. "Please."

Quinn looked at him and Kurt could see that she was hysterical. She breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm herself down. "Jealous," she cried. "Jealous and...freaked and...not fair that you get to be so amazing and my life is ... so freaking fake!"

Kurt didn’t know what to do. He stood there, staring dumbly in the hallway and he didn’t know what to do. He caught his boyfriend’s eye and Puck looked at him apologetically and confused. He felt like a stranger in his own home for a moment, so Kurt decided to go to the kitchen and make tea. It had always been his coping mechanism as a kid, to run into the kitchen and make some tea. He had been doing it when he was eight years old and his family was full of people grieving his mother, he had done it when Tina came over their freshman year sobbing over a bullying incident, he had done it for Quinn once, actually, when the pressure of being a pregnant teenager was too much.  
He went into the kitchen and put on the teapot, feeling incredibly useless.

He heard Puck and Quinn talking through the thin walls of their stupid little apartment.

“How come you get to be such a perfect daddy?”

“Shh honey, you’re having some kind of panic attack.”

“You were the world’s biggest jackass, you know that? Sleeping with me when I wasn’t ready to have sex, getting me pregnant and making me hurt…all the time.”

Kurt couldn’t help cross his arms and fill in his own mental answer to her words. Well he wasn’t exactly ready for you to lie about it, tell the world that your boyfriend was the baby’s father and take zero responsibility for your actions. He would have been there for you.

“I know I was Quinn,” he heard Puck respond instead. “I know honey. I know what kind of guy I was, but that’s changed. I’m here for Beth and I love her.”

“How do you get to be the adult while I’m living some big freaking lie?”

That’s not his fault, Kurt thought. You were a decent person and then went all “roar Cheerio” on us again.

“I’m just doing the best I can Quinn.”

“I miss her. I miss all the stupid dreams I had about keeping the baby with you. I just miss what could have been so much. I’m sorry for being so mean…I just miss what could have been and I’m jealous…”

Kurt swallowed and took off his tea before it boiled over.


	13. What makes you so confident?

"Can I really see her?” Quinn asked softly. The moment those words left her lips, the girl started to sob, tears filling her beautiful brown eyes. Puck remembered well a time when her eyes were the only things he saw. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I just want to see her. I've wanted to see her for so long and now she's your baby and I don't know how to handle it. I let her go...it was the right choice. We were never supposed to have to deal with this again. We were never supposed to feel like this again. It's not fair."

Puck frowned and then leaned forward, pulling the girl into his arms. "Yeah you can see her," he said softly, rubbing her back lightly. He looked at the kitchen, where Kurt had vanished to, so confused and scared and honestly, needing his boyfriend. Kurt was the strong one, the one who always knew how to handle things like this. He didn't know how to deal with the girl he had once loved, sobbing on him like he was trying to ruin her life. He wasn’t trying to ruin Quinn’s life. He was just trying to find his own.

"Is she...a good girl?" Quinn whispered. "Does she love her daddy?"

He nodded. "So so much," he said softly. "Beth is one of the most amazing children I've ever met Quinn. Shelby, she raised her so well.”

Quinn sighed a little bit and stopped hyperventilating at least. Puck had heard a tea kettle go off, which meant that Kurt wasn’t happy. “How do you know you can do this?” Quinn asked. “What makes you so confident that you can do this? I’m not even confident that I can take my entry exam at UCLA and I’m getting freaked over that. Now, you’re gonna go and be a father?”

Puck rubbed her arm. “Quinn,” he mumbled. “Are you happy with your life?”

She had sort of called it a fake life. It was something that he needed to ask her, even though he had more than enough of his own troubles.

“I guess,” she mumbled low. “I have a fantastic boyfriend and my mom’s helping me get through college. My dad is also helping too, in his own I’m sorry I threw you out of the house way. I’m just…I’m unsure of everything. How come you get to be so confident and sure?”

“Because I can’t afford not to,” he said quickly. “Do you think I’m really confident? I mean, I’m eighteen and all of a sudden I’m the father of the perfect two year old again. I work at a grocery store, picking up shopping carts and stocking shelves. When you freaked out on us, you said that what we were doing was insane – and it is. If I don’t have confidence in myself and my ability to do this, then what is there left?”

She nodded, slowly, like she sort of understood what he was saying. “I don’t even know what I want,” she said softly, shaking her head. “I don’t want to be a mother. I gave her up because I wasn’t ready and I couldn’t be a mother. I’m not even asking that from you. I just hate my life, I hate it.”

“That’s something you have to fix,” he said, looking her straight in the eye. “I hated my life too, couple years ago. It was so freakin’ pointless, that there was nothing in it that mattered. I just wanted someone to notice me and say hey dude, you’re fucking up. It took the worst thing in the world, for that to happen, but finally someone did say it.”

“Wish someone would tell me that,” she mumbled low.

“Hey dude, you’re fucking up,” Puck said quickly, which brought a smile to her face. He was always pretty good at making Quinn smile and he felt confident when she lit up. He shook his head. “High school’s over princess, stop doing what people want you to do and go for what feels right.”

She sighed a little bit, but he felt her nodding against his side.

He pat her shoulder lightly. “Quinn, you’ll be okay. You’re the queen of confidence; you just gotta apply it to where you want to be. Now, are you staying the night? Catherine will bring Beth in the morning and then you two can meet again.”

Quinn looked up. “Uh sure,” she mumbled low.

“Kay, lemme get you something to sleep in,” he said. “The sound of boiling water from awhile ago means that I’ve got a pissed off or upset boyfriend on my hands, so one sec.”

Quinn looked concerned. “I hope I didn’t…”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. He quickly went to the bedroom. Kurt wasn’t there. He got a shirt and some pajama pants and brought them to the girl in the front room. “Thanks,” she mumbled.

Then he went into the kitchen, where he found Kurt staring into a teacup.


	14. Did you know that you're my thing?

“Kurt, as hard as you try, that teacup isn’t talking back,” Puck said, deciding to try and break the silence in the room in the best way that he knew how.

Damn. It didn’t even make Kurt smile in the slightest. The poor kid looked paralyzed to the spot, looking at the teacup for another long, lingering moment before turning back to look at his boyfriend. Kurt gave him a weak nod and laughed. “I’m a little distracted,” he mumbled softly. “How’s Quinn?” The way that Kurt said her name, with a hint of venom behind it, well it indicated jealousy and as far as Puck remembered, Kurt never was the jealous type. Not even in the beginning, when Puck was still being pursued by girls ignoring the fact that their stud was just raped, did Kurt get jealous. He wasn’t a jealous guy.

“Quinn’s fine,” he said softly. “I calmed her down and she’s gonna sleep in the front room tonight.” He sat down next to Kurt. “Are you mad? What’d I do?”

Kurt finally smiled a little bit. “I never understood why the moment I get upset, you always jump to the conclusion that you did something wrong,” he said. “Your lack of confidence, beneath your outer boldness and bravado is kind of unnerving sometimes.”

He shrugged and put his arms around Kurt. “I know I fuck up a lot,” he said, honestly. “So it’s an easy assumption to make when the guy I love is hurting, that I probably did it.”

Kurt laughed again and leaned into his side. “Noah Puckerman you are an idiot,” he said, decisively. “Maybe the guy you love is just being a jealous idiot and needs to relax for a little bit, because he loves you too, so much.”

Jealous.

It kind of floored Puck that Kurt even had the potential to be jealous, especially of Quinn, and to hear Kurt actually say it was even worse. “Jealous of Quinn?” he asked gently.

Kurt sniffed, but he nodded all the same. “Yes, jealous,” he said, rolling his eyes. “She was your first love, the girl you had a baby with. It’s kind of easy to get jealous of that. I know I’m being stupid, but when we’re dealing with all of this stuff and she waltzes back in the door acting hysterical, like we hurt her or something, it pisses me off and makes me…”

“Jealous,” Puck finished for him. “But baby, you shouldn’t be jealous in the slightest. I’ll admit to having that history with her, but you know who else I have a history with? You. You were the person who saved my life, who I fell head-over-heels for and who changed my word. I wouldn’t be raising a baby right with Quinn. With you, it’s happening and it’s going so well I’m shocked.”

“Well I told you it was stupid jealousy,” Kurt said softly.

“Kinda, yeah,” Puck said, but it was friendly, not harsh. “Can it stop now please? Cause I love you and I’m just trying to be a good friend to Quinn and help her find her own way. She needs it.”

Kurt nodded, wiping his eyes and yawning. “I’m just tired and stressed,” he admitted. “All we’ve been going through lately, I haven’t been sleeping much.”

“Me neither,” Puck admitted. This night was supposed to be for them to catch up on sleep, no wonder it had set Kurt off a little bit when Quinn came marching into their house. He understood a little bit better than Kurt did, he imagined. It was just too much stress and they weren’t being allowed to recuperate the way that they needed to. He leaned over and kissed Kurt slowly. “I think I’m gonna kiss you, and then make you go to bed and that’s that.”

“You sound too much like a daddy now,” Kurt responded, honestly. “It’s creepy but adorable.”

Puck laughed, and then pulled back the covers on their bed. “Get in bed Kurt or – or I’ll pick you up and put you in.”

Kurt rolled his eyes and got into bed. Puck crawled in next to him and attacked him with another series of kisses. “I-freaking-love-you-Kurt-Hummel,” he said, kissing Kurt to punctuate each word. “Now, we are going to get some sleep before we pass out and die.”

Kurt curled up close. “Wanna know something funny?” he asked.

“Yeah?”

Kurt yawned as he spoke. “As tired as I am,” he said, “I miss her. I am so in love with that child that it’s painful.”

Puck nodded in agreement. “Me too, babe, me too.”

Kurt leaned forward and kissed Puck, slowly, intimately. Since their first time together, they had not had a free moment to even kiss like this. Neither of them was in the mood for sex, of course, and Quinn was in the next room, but it was so nice just to kiss his boyfriend, fingers sliding over his pale cheek. He pulled back, looking adoringly at Kurt. “You left your teacup on the counter,” he teased, gently, as he kissed him again. “I knew you were upset because I heard tea boiling. Why do you always do that?”

“It’s a habit,” Kurt said, kissing him back, several times. “I started doing it when my mom died. It made me feel better. Hush you we all have our things.”

“We all do. Did you know you’re my thing?”

Kurt laughed. Puck kissed the smirk off of his face.


	15. Family

When Puck woke up the following morning, it was to the sound of Kurt’s slightly frantic voice. “Get up!” Kurt said. “Beth and Catherine are going to be here in just a little bit.”

Puck yawned and got up. He had never understood how Kurt was so good in the mornings, even when the night before he had been exhausted. He took a shower, put on some clothes and then walked out into the front room of the apartment. Kurt was cleaning up the front room and Quinn was peeking out of the kitchen, looking at Puck with a guilty expression on her face.

“I made breakfast if you’re hungry,” she said softly. She didn’t look like her normal fabulously put together self, dressed in yesterday’s clothes, not wearing makeup and showing signs of her own exhaustion, but she seemed more at peace than she had the night before. “Well, Kurt helped me, but yeah, I figured it was the least I can do after coming to your house a total wreck. So, she’s coming pretty soon?”

He nodded, still sleepy. “Yeah,” he said. Kurt had already put out a pot of coffee. God, he loved Kurt and Kurt just knew him so well. He took a drink of his coffee. “You ready for this?” he asked Quinn.

She nodded. “I am,” she said quietly. “Thank you for letting me see her.”

Kurt spoke up, throwing a pillow back onto the sofa. “Quinn and I talked,” he said softly. “I’m sorry for the way I acted last night. I was really just kind of exhausted.”

Puck shook his head. “Kurt, don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’ve been exhausted too and this just isn’t easy, what’s been going on.”

A few more drinks of coffee and there was a knock at the door. He got up to get it. He opened the door to see Catherine standing there, Beth clinging to her side. The little girl looked just about as sleepy as her daddy; her hair was a mess and she was yawning. “Hey sleepy girl,” Puck said, touching her cheek. Beth turned up her face towards him and smiled sleepily. “Daddy’s a sleepy monster in the morning too.” He looked at Catherine and smiled at her, “Hi.”

The woman came inside and quickly set Beth down. “For a tiny two year old, she is quite the weight sometimes,” Catherine said, stretching her arms out uncomfortably. “She’s still really sleepy. She was never good at being woken up.”

“Genetics,” Kurt said, laughing.

Quinn stood quietly by the kitchen, kind of paralyzed to the spot. Puck glanced at her and then looked over to Kurt, who was also looking at her sympathetically. Puck broke the silence and introduced her. “Catherine, this is Quinn,” he said, softly. “She’s…”

The woman nodded. “I know who she is,” she said quietly.

“She just wanted to meet Beth,” Puck said, sensing the suspicion in her voice.

Quinn very quietly put down the kitchen utensils she had been holding onto and approached Beth, who had sat up on the sofa. “Hi Beth,” she said softly, delicately. “I’m Quinn.” She seemed fascinated by the child, her eyes wide but quickly filling with tears. “Your daddy told me that I had to meet the most amazing girl in the world.”

The child seemed confused but waved sleepily at her.

Quinn bit her lip. “She looks so much like you,” she told Puck, obviously struggling with a million emotions. “She’s just about the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen in my life.”

Kurt stepped across the living room and hugged Quinn from behind. This was a surprise to Puck, because he knew Kurt wasn’t that good with overly affectionate things like hugging. “She has a lot of pretty girl in her,” Kurt said tenderly and Puck was so glad that the tension between Kurt and Quinn had ended, at least for now.

Catherine smiled and decided to break the quiet, uncomfortable silence. “Beth was talking about you guys all night,” she said, a lot more at ease than she had been before. “Where’s daddy? I want Kurt. It went on and on all night until we watched Cinderella and went to bed.”

Puck could see the pride in Kurt’s eyes at that.

“I made breakfast,” Quinn said softly. “Are you guys hungry?”

Catherine, who had seemed a little suspicious of Quinn, smiled and tried her best to be polite. “That’s very sweet of you.”

Quinn shrugged a little bit. “It’s the least I can do for everyone,” she said, before returning to the kitchen. Kurt looked after her concerned but Puck shook his head. She needed a moment after seeing her daughter, he was sure. The first time that Shelby had given Puck a visitation he had wound up sobbing in front of her house, hysterically.

“Hungry Beth?” Puck asked, tickling the sleeping child. “I can tell you one thing about Miss Quinn, she makes the best food ever.”

Beth nodded. “Hungry,” she repeated hugging onto Puck, arms around his neck.

“We really don’t have a lot of dining room furniture yet,” Kurt said, his face a little bit red with embarrassment. “But, we’ll bring Beth’s high chair in here and everyone can eat in the front room.”

Puck decided that it would be best if he went to get the high chair from the kitchen, just in case. As it turned out, that was a very good idea because Quinn was staring into the wall, hard. "Hey," he said, walking up to her and lightly touching her shoulder.

She spun. "Hey," she said softly.

"She's something else isn't she?" he asked, knowing just what she was thinking. It was hard to get over Beth, especially when you were involved in creating her. He couldn't imagine what Quinn was feeling, being the woman who carried her, all those months.

"Get me some plates," she said, moving to get the pans off of the oven. "God, yes she is. She's a miniature you and she adores you and Kurt so much so fast." He got her some plates and handed them over. She quickly took them. "The funniest thing is, I'm okay with it."

“Yeah?” he asked, as she started putting the plates together.

“I am,” she said honestly. “You and Kurt are fantastic parents and you’re gonna be exactly what she needs. I was the girl who gave birth to her, but this is your world, not mine. I…I am going to be making a few decisions about my life pretty soon and I would love if maybe I could see you guys from time to time though.”

He nodded and hugged her. “Let’s feed the masses Quinn.”

Puck brought out the high chair and picked Beth up, putting her inside. “There you go girlie girl,” he said brightly, kissing her nose. Beth chuckled. Kurt went to help Quinn bring out the food for the adults and Puck went and brought Beth one of the tiny child’s plates out for his girl.

It was almost like a family, sitting around the living room – anything but the disaster it once was. Kurt and Catherine were talking excitedly about Beth’s favorite Disney films, and Quinn was curled up on the side of the couch, coffee cup in hand. It was kind of perfect.

-

Kurt’s first day of class was an absolute whirlwind. He had only been to two classes and he sort of felt a little nauseated with the rush of emotions. He and Puck had done a very good job arranging their schedules so that Beth was never alone, plus Beth had a plethora of babysitters – Puck’s little sister was going to start babysitting, as soon as she and her mother moved into town, Quinn had taken her first semester of school off, in order to sort her life out and was always there for Beth, and Catherine of course, babysat nearly every weekend. Beth was well taken care of but Kurt was still nervous being away from the family he had quickly developed.

His first reaction, getting out of class for a break, was of course to check his phone. He found three texts from Puck.

(1:50) Your class just got out right?  
(1:52) It better have.  
(1:53) Come to the lower quad of your school. Now.

He didn’t even bother to text back, heading down to lower campus quickly. He was still a little confused by the layout. He found Puck and Beth standing up against a tree, Beth with her arms wrapped around Puck’s leg.

“Hey there. What are you guys doing here?  
“Well, I don’t work today and we figured we’d see what smart daddy was up to.” Puck smiled that brilliant smile of his and then leaned down and captured Kurt’s lips in a quick kiss. Kurt kissed him back and then scooped Beth up into his arms. “How was your first day of class?” Puck asked.

“Exhausting,” Kurt said. “I’m a little bit overwhelmed.”

“Understandable,” Puck said, looking around. “This place is huge, but one of us has to be the family genius, sorry.”

Kurt smiled, warmly. “Hey, I think that both of Beth’s daddies are pretty smart,” he said. He hated that Puck had to put his education plans on hold but honestly, the guy was smarter than any college education could give him. He was brilliant. He leaned down and kissed Beth again. “Now tell me sweetheart, what did you and daddy do today?”

Her eyes lit up. “Auntie Quinn,” she said brightly.

“Yep,” Puck said. “We saw Quinn today. She’s staying with her mom for a semester, which is good for her head but kind of driving her crazy all the same, so she drove down to see us. She’s shocked at how big our girl has gotten.”

Kurt had to agree. It had only been about a month since Quinn last saw Beth but she was already showing signs of what a big girl she was. “Did you use the potty today?” he asked the little girl, who nodded proudly. God, Kurt was so in love with his family.

His family. He could deal with that.


End file.
